Sorry so silent...

I started this blog many moons ago, with aspirations of posting regularly, with rants and ramblings and whatever else I so desired.

As is evident by the very limited number of previous posts,  I have failed to keep up with this blog thing. Really, it's only a blog, and I'm not that concerned about whether or not I post. 

However, my lack of follow-through with this blog is eerily similar to other parts of my life. I have aspirations of doing many things, like going to the gym more than once every week (or two) and training the wild and uncontrollable Mollie-pup. It seems that life just gets in the way. 

After working all day, the inside of a gym is the last thing I want to see. Besides that, it's a new year and all sorts of people have made their resolution to get in shape and I bet the gym is crowded with all of those eager fitness-type people. I applaud my wife for being able to visit the gym on a consistent basis. I know I am not much of a motivator in that regard.

As to the Mollie-pup, well, let's just say she has a lot of energy. More energy than I can control after working all day. But I do try, sometimes. I do better with her on the weekends, while the wife naps. I am able to spend a little "quality" time advising the Mollie-pup of the wonders of "Sit!", "Stay!" and "Lay down!".  She's just not that into those things. She wants to jump and bark and eat whatever bribe I am carrying to try to gain some semblance of respect for the master/dog relationship. Oh well. I'd rather train the Mollie-pup than go to the gym.

Starbucks, Basketball and the Oklahoman

I'm not one to look for the reasons behind why things happen very often. But sometimes in life things happen and the reasons why are so clear you can't help but take note.

Take the closing of 600 Starbucks nationwide -- that is the result of (I guess) higher fuel prices, lower demand, blah blah blah. Now these closures don't really bother me, I don't spend a lot of time in Starbucks anymore because, quite frankly, I'd rather buy a gallon of gas for my car.

However, the Oklahoma City metro area had seven stores on the chopping block. Again, not a big deal to me. One stands out in particular, however: the store across the Broadway Extension from the Oklahoman headquarters (Britton Road and the Broadway Extension). This store has not been open all that long -- maybe a year or so -- and given the insane amount of traffic that pours out of Edmond every morning, I would expect that it is a well-performing store. (Disclaimer: I majored in Greek and Hebrew in college, so my business mind may not be the sharpest)

So what gives? Why did this store have to close? That's easy -- we took Seattle's basketball team. The team's former owner, Howard Schultz (of Starbucks fame), is still trying to get the team back by suing the Oklahoma owners for not negotiating "in good faith". The Daily Oklahoman (across the highway from the soon-to-be-closed store) has spent copious amounts of ink and paper talking about Mr. Schultz and his lawsuit, and not all of it has been friendly. There is no lack of animosity towards Mr. Schultz in this fair city, and he deserves what he gets.

But, all is fair in love and war. Starbucks needs to close stores. How do they choose? Smaller profits, less foot traffic, and all the other usual factors were probably used to determine which stores would be no more. But not one store in Oklahoma City... Plenty of people work at the Oklahoman, plenty of people travel the Broadway Extension every day, and plenty of people in Oklahoma City drink coffee. That store was not an under-performer. No way.

I hope Starbucks leased the building. I hope Starbucks tries to break the lease. And I hope someone sues Starbucks for doing so. I bet Starbuck offers money to get out of the lease without having to honor the remainder of the lease. I bet Howard Schultz is okay with that scenario.

The big hypocritical baby.

Three posts in one day...

...must be some sort of record.

This is merely a re-posting of a comment I left on Berry Tramel's NewsOK.com blog regarding the naming of OKC's new NBA franchise, which can be found here. I enjoy reading people's thoughts and ideas about what to name the new team, and I decided to offer the following comment:

I’m to the point where as long as the name is not weather related, I’ll be fine with it. For some reason, any weather related name screams the WNBA to me… Who am I to judge a team name, though, I grew up in Kansas City and we had an MLS team that started out being named after a bodily function… Nothing better than chanting “Let’s go, Wiz!!” in Arrowhead Stadium…

A quick second post

I found this calculator to be quite interesting: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/05/29/hours.gallons/index.html

It's a calculator on CNN.com that tells you how long you would have to work at your current job to fill up your gas tank. I will not tell you how long I would have to work to do so, but I can tell you that I am glad I don't work a minimum wage job. A person making $5.85 an hour would have to work in excess of ten (10) hours to fill up a fifteen (15) gallon tank. Even I know that's not right.

I don't know whether it's speculation, greed, supply/demand, or instability in the Middle East driving the prices upward every day, and it is really of no concern to me. My only concern is how much it hurts people just to get to work.

DISCLOSURE: I only work 1.5 miles from my home, so my pain is limited (slightly). I don't fill up as often, but everytime I do, it seems like gas is a quarter more than the last time...

First post

It was inevitable -- I knew I would give in to blogging again at some point. I've dabbled with it in the past, on Xanga and even MySpace. I must admit I am less than faithful when it comes to posting to a blog. Whether my lack of consistency is the result of forgetfulness, apathy, or some other reason, I'm not sure.

Needless to say, at the encouragement of my red hot wife, I have decided to give it another go. I have no idea who will read this blog, and to be honest with you, I'm not sure I care. I will use it as a chance to sound off on things in my life, in the nation, and if I read enough news, even the world. It might not be the most informative blog, but I hope that some find it entertaining. Thanks for reading and bear with me as I start down this path once again.